Morris tribune., 1887-11-30
MOUNT MYSTERY.

we'll armed and afraid of nothing.
sit is all right" l told the captain,
!. ;swith proper caution there will be no
danger. We may make valuable discov-
cries and become famous explorers. 1t is
time to unveil the secrets of this wonder
full land, and it is nonsense to be frightened
! off by few sailors yarns"
! The captain shook his head and said no
more We completed our preparations
for the trip, and early one morning started
off in the highest spirits.
When the discovery was made, after we
had been camping out for about a week,
that we had lost our way it appeared to
middle our heads.
| Various attempts were made to head
towards the coast, but in every instance
we were compelled to return disheartened
and uncertain as to our course.
The few natives encountered in our
wanderings were unlike those along the
seaboard. They were light colored, hand
some and active, and fled at our approach,
refusing to hold any communication
with us.
One evening we cainped on the bor-
ders of lovely lake under the shadow of
frowning mountain.
''There is something queer about that
mountain" remarked Walpole, the only
sailor in our party.
"Queer" replied cautiously. every
thing is queer in this peculiar land.
What is it about the mountain that strikes
your
'sWhile l have been resting here" said
Walpole, who was lazily reclining on the
grass, ~ have been using my eyes. The
mountain is as steep on this side as the
face of stone wall. If it is that way all
~ 49, h. 10
"Well," I answered, "who wants to
climb to the top?"
81 do, for one," responded Walpole.
''The luminous cloud or Va ..or around the
summit and reaching down the sides is
strange thing just watch it for a mo-
ment"
looked upward at the precipitous mass
of rock. The cloud was stationary, and
looked more like steam than anything
else.
Occasionally, said my companion, II
see birds fly out of the cloud, and after
circling about for awhile they always re-
turn. Then, if my ears Go not deceive
me- and they are keen ones, l can dis
tinguish various voices all coming from
the direction of the cloud"
t'Why, man, you are losing your
senses" interrupted. IF the summit
is inaccessible what can there be up there
to make noise?"
'tBirds at least" said the sailor, with
smile, 81 can swear to seeing the birds.
don't know what else may be up there,
b It several times in the last half hour
have heard the clang of metal nd the
sound of human voices"
'fHe is right said Hinton, another
member of our party. 81 have heard the
same sounds, but l didn't like to men
ton it..
''Wny not explore little ~ suggested,
indifferently.
To my surprise everybody agreed. The
men were tired roaming about aimlessly
with disappointment at every turn. They
were ready for anything for change.
In the morning two men started in one
direction around the base of the mountain,
while two went in the other. Their plan
was to proceed until they met. and then
return together.
remained with one man at the camp.
Others might investigate Mount Mystery,
as we called it, but felt too fatigued for
such an effort.
During the day we lounged about and
watched the cloud wrapped phenomenon
before us. More than once l heard
clatter apparently in the upper air, and
OuC6 OT UWlC6 L Noto quiz OAoV hSe1Ao
voices. Evidently Mount Mystery was o
good name for this freak of nature.
Late in the afternoon our comrades re-
turned. They had walked all day, COW
ering many miles, and they had learned
nothing except that the mountain pre-
sented the same perpendicular Wall-1ke
appearance all the way around.
sat one place." said Hinton, 1--WE saw
a tolerably large stream of water trickling
down the sides of the rock. So there is
water up there, and it may be that the
whole surface is productive and inhab-
ited''
"You forget" / objected, "that it is
impossible for any living thing except a
bird to get up the1e.'
aOf course don't attempt to explain
it, y said Walpole, "but it is possible that
ages ago the mountain sloped down, at
least on one side. An earthquake or
landslip may have left it in its present
condition, with whole tribe of people
stranded there among the clouds. / don't
say 1t is SO, but that may be the way
of it,
Night came upon us again, and we were
glad to rest.
aWhat is that?"
Hinton was standing over me pointing
to the mountain. was wide awake in O
moment and listened intently.
High above the earth ] heard voices
singing what seemed to be barharic
chant. Mingled with the voices 1 could
hear the clash and sonorous peal of
musical instruments.
.sWhat do you say now?" asked Wal
pole, coming up.
Every man in the camp was awakened,
and we spent the greater part of the night
listening to the marvellous concert in the
clouds.
The dawn of day found US looking at
each other with pale faces and anxious
eyes,
'tShall we break camp and mover 7
asked.
"Yes, tomorrow replied Walpole.
tsGiye me one more day. / have found
out something this morning that may
lead to o great discovery. Down there
by the lake there Is what appears to. be a
streak of moss running in zig gag
fashion up the mountain, Well, that
moss fringes and partially conceals some-
thing like q rough hewn or perhaps q
natural fight of marrow steps winding
around up the mountain am confident
that sailor like myself could manage to
ascend a considerable distance, and I am
going to try it, I"
We raised a unanimous protest, but
Walpole was obstinate.
II will take off my shoes" he said,
"and by crawling on my hands and knees
and by hugging the face of therock it will
be safe. y
There was no way of talking him out
of the notion, and as he could climb like
a cat we finally agreed to let him try it..
It was slow work after the brave fellow
had got fairly started and we watched
him In breathless suspense. He craWled
at a snail like pace, never looking down,
but keeping his eyes fixed on some point
above.
Two or three Of the men made terri
BILE effort to follow him, but soon had to
retrace their steps. The pathway was so
narrow that only the most expert and
surefooted climber could make his way